Pictured at London's Sphere Studios is Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon with the TELEFUNKEN Ela M251. In the rear is TELEFUNKEN's new U47AE with VF14k vacuum tube. (Photo by James Cumsty for Future Music magazine.)

Duran Duran has purchased a TELEFUNKEN USA Ela M251 large diaphragm tube microphone system, a faithful recreation of the classic microphone manufactured in the 1950s that is considered to be one of the most desirable of the enduring condenser tube microphones.

Kevin Walker of London’s Unity Audio provided technical support as TELEFUNKEN USA’s director of distribution in the United Kingdom. Duran Duran records often at Sphere Studios, where they discovered a sizeable collection of new TELEFUNKEN USA microphones, including the U47V, Ela M 251AC, and Ela M 12.

Duran Duran was originally created by Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Stephen Duffy, with the later addition of Roger Taylor, Andy Taylor, and Simon Le Bon. The band is recognized as a leader in the MTV-driven “Second British Invasion” of the United States.

Since the 1980s they have placed 21 singles in the Billboard Hot 100 and 14 in the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart, and have sold more than 70 million records. The band’s hit singles from the 1980s include, “Girls on Film,” “Rio,” “Hungry Like the Wolf,” and the James Bond theme “A View to a Kill.” In the early 1990s, the band released “Ordinary World” and “Come Undone,” followed by “Sunrise” and “What Happens Tomorrow” in the 2000s. “Falling Down” was released from their 2007 album, “Red Carpet Massacre.”